AFL Round 8 Part 2

At the Gabba:
Brisbane   3.3    5.4    8.8      9.9.63
Essendon   3.5    9.8   13.11   19.13.127

The Bummernaut rolled on, or sailed on more appropriately on a very wet
Brisbane night. The win here created a club record winning sequence to
start a season. At pickin' time Brisbane lost Alistair Lynch with
illness and fellow forward Tim Notting with a broken thumb, putting him
out for 6 weeks. Defenders Jason Akermanis and Matthew Kennedy returned
from injury. The Bombers axed Dean Wallis for winger Michael Prior.

Tuned in to see the rain pouring down and that I'd missed a goal, kicked
by Jim Hird. Thought I may have missed the only score of the match.
However the supremely confident and more skilled Dons played very well.
Brisbane badly lacked quality in the big man department. Slick
handpasses between Bolton, Molloy and Ashcroft led to their first major,
a tap-through for Simon Black. Had a laugh when Lloyd wasted terrific
lead-up work from Hird and Heffernan, but then a clever (B. McAvaney)
handpass from Blumfield led to an easy goal for Jason Johnson. Dons by 9
points before a grubbed McRae kicked slithered through a pack to the
waiting Marcus Picken, who snapped it through. Bommer backman Dean
Solomon was caught in possession, that led to a Lion banana goal for
Black and the locals led by 5 points. Moorcroft soccered a poster before
Blumfield restored the Don lead at quarter-time, marking Heffernan's
good kick. Goals continued to be swapped in the early second stanza.
Blumfield kicked into the mark but Hird arrived to clean up and snap a
major. Lion Bolton stripped Caracella in a tackle, allowing Picken to
sausage. A woeful piece of umpiring saw Lloyd hold the ball in Kennedy's
tackle for several decades before throwing it clear, of course Lloyd got
it a back a few seconds later and snapped a goal. That fired the
Bananabender players and crowd, Akermanis charged down the wing and
bounced the ball on the greasy surface, punted long where Molloy shunted
Fletcher aside for mark and goal. The Lyans were 2 points behind but
their challenge was over. The Dons had Barnes winning in the ruck,
better forwards, better backmen. Moorcroft kicked a fantastic goal,
diving after the ball and sliding on his back, ball under arm before
booting it through while lying down. Much like one Darren Jarman kicked
against the Tiges last year, also in the wet. Caracella passed to
Moorcroft again for the next gol, standing up this time, Bolton's poor
centering kick at half forward created a turnover goal for Lloyd.
Another Brizzy turnover, Molloy spilling an uncontested mark, led to
great running slot from Ramanauskas. Half time and suddenly Brisbane
were 28 points down.

Brisbane battled hard to hang on. They did attack early in term tres and
received reward when Power marked and converted. But too-easy goals from
Caracella and Hird, the latter combining nicely with Blumfield, saw the
Lions 6 goals behind. Graciously the Dons muffed a kick-in and the busy
Shaun Hart six-pointered. Almost immediately Kennedy's bad handpass
ended with a good mark and goal from Bomber Scott Lucas. Blumfield held
a gutsy mark as he was clobbered from the side but hurt his hip. The
umpire demanded Blumfield take his shot, which slewed out of bounds.
Tough break. Blumfield hobbled off. A bit of soccer between Hart and
Akermanis, the latter now at full forward, saw a goal and deficit-cut to
25 points. However Lloyd goaled on the siren, a (legitimate) free kick
for holding against Chris Scott. Final quarter saw the awesome
mesmerizing power of the Bommernaut. On the ground, Lion Luke Power
rushed a behind while surrounded by teammates with no Bommer within 20m.
In the commentary box, McAvaney wanted to hand the flag out now and
indulge in sexual relations with most of the Don list. Esserdin,
oblivious to all this and the steady downpour, piled on the goals. Three
of them were very good. Moorcroft kicked two, a lovely 1-2 with Lucas
while running at full pelt, then a terrific mark on the boundary line
and great banana-kick. But the best was booted by Bewick, roving a
contest perfectly on the wing and setting off with three technically
perfect bounces on the saturated grass before drilling it from 40m.
Great stuff.

Jim Hird was pretty good again, getting 13 kicks and holding 6 good
marks in the wet with the greasy ball. Also kicked 3 goals. Blake
Caracella is a master of standing 30m away from anybody but still
getting the ball, 28 times here with a goal. Mercuri had 30 touches at
half-forward although he wasn't as effective as some others. Fletcher
was great at full back, getting the ball 22 times and snuffing out the
only Lion forward in Molloy. Gary Moorcroft's miraculous second-quarter
goal sparked the Dons and his touch of brilliance underlined the
difference between the teams, he ended with 4 goals from 15 kicks. Lloyd
was too good for Kennedy and booted 5 goals from 16 kicks, 4 marks.
Liked Chris Heffernan's game, especially early, he had 20 touches and
Bewick kicked 2 goals. Brisbane challenged while Michael Voss (25
disposals) put himself about but his influence waned after half-time.
Akermanis (26 touches, 2 goals) battled hard and got a couple of late
goals when shifted forward. Black's skill was evident with 21 touches
and 2 early goals, Adam Heuskes got the pill 21 times down back and also
had a go in attack. Bolton (18 disposals) had a good first half and Luke
Power got the agget 11 times in the last quarter for a total of 26 with
a goal. Picken booted 2 goals from 10 kicks. Missing big men are proving
costly; their first-choice ruckman, full forward, All-Australian full
back and the smaller but excellent Steve Lawrence. Leigh-thal said "They
(Essadun) are a very high-class team. I mean, you would have enjoyed
watching them play if you weren't involved with the Lions, because they
eventually outplayed us in all the key areas. I suspect they are the
most dominant side in the competition since Carlton in '95. They may get
beaten at some stage, but they are a pretty complete unit..." Et tu,
Lethal? Sheedy said "I was really pleased that we kept working through
the match. We didn't take our focus off the ball. Once again the side's
improving, I thought we played a better 100 minutes than we did against
Collingwood. We're keeping the pressure on each other around the club
which is a bonus when you don't have the injuries that Brisbane
definitely have got." Gracious of Kev to acknowledge that. None of the
commentators did.

At Colonial:
Collingwood  2.3    4.8    5.10   12.13.85
Fremantle    5.6    6.9   12.13   15.17.107

Freo can't understand the fuss over Colonial. It's just like home. The
ground's like concrete, the grass is thin and tough, the stands are
half-full...the only difference is they win at Colonial. The Dockers
out-ran, out-tackled and outplayed the Pies for three quarters and
deserved to go on and win. Colin Wood were extremely sloppy for most of
the night. The Maggies had Anthony Rocca back after suspension and
regained full-back Simon Prestigiacomo, Ben Johnson got a run and Leon
Davis came in as a late replacement for Ben Kinnear. Discarded were
James Wasley, Brent Tuckey and Nick Davis. The Dockers made one change,
axing Craig Callaghan who's been struggling for a kick and bringing in
debutant Brad Bootsma, a defender from South Fremantle.

The Pies started OK with goals from Sav Rocca, who began in the ruck,
and a curving shot from Ben Johnson after he pinned the unfortunate
Leigh Brown in a tackle. But the enthusiastic Dockers' hard running,
getting numbers to the ball, saw them stack on the next five. Good
tagging efforts too from Shane Parker, on Buckley, and Brad Dodd on Paul
Williams. Prestigiacomo's panicky soccer from defence rebounded for a
mark and goal to Bandy, down from defence. Troy Cook embarked on a long
run, dished off to Black who found Shipp in the pocket for the next.
Cook slid out of a few tackles and snapped a sausage himself, Black
roved a contest and handpassed inboard for Toia speeding by to thump it
through. Tight second term. Gav Brown came on for the Pies and his
tenacity helped create a major for Tony Rocca, playing at CHF (or is he
a character in The Sopranos?). Dorker Stephen Koops made a reply for
Freo, speeding away on a 2-bounce run and spearing a daisycutter to
leading Waterhouse, installed at full forward. Gol.  Late on Sav Rocca
gathered a wayward pass near the boundary and wheeled about like a
Qantas jumbo on the Rome tarmac. But he got away from Docker Brown and
blasted his snap through from a tight angle.

Freeoh skipped clear in the tird. Waterhouse goaled early, then a
McManus tackle forced Burns to handball to Koops, he slotted it. Freo
were 26 points up. Pies were very sloppy. Inside his own 50m line Ukovic
kicked the ball straight to Bootsma. He missed but the kick-in was
swallowed by Shipp. He chipped it to Hasleby, who also missed. Tony
Rocca booted long to brother Sav, who outbustled Brown for a mark and
goal to the Maggies. But another Ukovic shocker, this time passing
direct to Clem Michael, led to Koops running a long way - no bounce -
and handballing for a Waterhouse tap-through. From the bounce Michael
tapped perfectly to Hasleby, his kick was snaffled and snapped truly on
the left by Pavlich. Dokkers by 32 points. Buckley's first touch for the
term was an attempted pass which sailed over O'Bree's head and out
o'bounds. Must have a problem with odd-numbered quarters. Waterhouse
snapped a ripper from an acute angle and Freo led by 38 points, another
Pie turnover and a wave of running Dockers crested with Bandy finding
Justin Longmuir alone in the goalsquare. Just before that Pie Damien
Adkins was stretchered off with concussion, his head smacking heavily
into the ground while tackled by Black.

Maggies faced an 8-goal deficit going into the last, but they had a
crack. Buckley decided, idiomatically, to win it by himself. He cleared
the opening bounce, leading to a goal for Anthony Rocca, and the next
centre bounce but Leon Davis missed. No mind, Bucks gathered the kick-in
and this time Davis's aim was true. Docker backman Kickett misjudged the
incoming Sherrin, allowing Freeborn to sprint off and bang a sausage.
Another running slot from Freeborn and it were Docks by just 21 points
now. They were being overrun, a nervy kick from James (no relation to
Lee) Walker turned over possession for Davis to snap the gap down to 16
points. Teen tyro Paul Hasleby halted the trend with some terrific
roving to Waterhouse and squeezed shot for six points. A minute later
O'Bree tried to be too cute in the middle and Hasleby repeated the dose,
taking the wind outta the Pie sails. Still, Freeborn bananaed the next
goal and Tony Rocca converted Johnson's pass, they were back to 17
points behind. Pies cleared the restart, Rocca Jnr. marked but missed.
It was left to Koops to end the story with a terrific goal, controlling
the ball under pressure and snapping a left-foot corker.

How did Sydney give Troy Cook away? Not only a hard runner but a decent
tackler, he had 27 disposals in the engine room and kicked a goal.
Michael's high leaping and excellent tapping in the ruck was a big
factor and rovers Adrian Fletcher (26 disposals) and hard nut Shaun
McManus (19) appreciated it. Luke Toia sped about what used to be the
wings before they shaved 'em off for 24 touches and a goal. Three knee
recos between those last two, I think. Dan Bandy was very good at CHB
again with 10 marks, 19 touches and a goal. Praise deserved to Parker
and Dodd for their tags, Waterhouse did well at full forward,
continually presenting himself for 7 marks and 4 goals (4 behinds too).
Hasleby kicked the 2 match-sealing goals. Pavlich and Koops kicked 2
goals each as well. For the Pies Tony Rocca shunted between the ruck and
CHF to lift the side, he took 13 marks and kicked 3 goals from his 20
possies. Can't believe this journo's put Ukovic in here, he had 20
disposals about half of which went straight to Fremantle players.
Lockyer was good at the back again with 21 disposals and Paul Licuria
very good on a wing for 29 handlings. Buckley was slowed by Parker but
still influential with a big last quarter, 9 disposals then for a total
of 25. Glenn Freeborn kicked 3 goals in the last quarter to give the
Pies a chance and Sav Rocca, who spent the last quarter on the bench,
also booted 3. Two goals for Neon Leon Davis. But overall, the Maggies
looked flat. "It is a reasonably young structure and they have had a
fair bit to cope with. This is just another life lesson," said Granpappy
Malthouse. Drum said "It will give us a bit of confidence. We have been
a bit guarded, but I think we understand now that we are not a great
team, but a capable team, for now."